Translated into English, January 2017–(originally Distancia de rescate), Fever Dream is shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. With virtuoso skill, well served in Megan McDowell’s finely textured translation, Ms Schweblin fuses a study in maternal anxiety with an ecological horror story. –The Economist Fever Dream is a nightmare […]
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Orkney, Amy Sackville
Orkney, the second novel from young British writer Amy Sackville, is certainly evocative: poetic, lyrical, lush in texture. But while this is its strength, the line between beautifully written and over-written is a fine one. –The Independent This is lovely: a beautifully painted story of love, obsession and loss, set […]
Read MoreClay, Melissa Harrison
An interesting novel about loneliness and our disconnection from nature. It centres on a run down city park and four main characters whose lives intersect through their use of the park. -Goodreads (Catherine, reviewer) Goodreads Reviews Back to Goodreads
Read MoreAlaska Highway Two-Step, Caroline Woodward
I’m speaking with the author and part-time lighthouse keeper just after the re-publication of her book Alaska Highway Two-Step. First published in 1993, the unusual mystery novel is set in part along the legendary route and the release of its new edition coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Highway’s […]
Read MoreOnly the Animals, Ceridwen Dovey
Ten tales are told by the souls of animals killed in human conflicts in the past century or so, from a camel in colonial Australia to a cat in the trenches in World War I, from a bear starved to death during the siege of Sarajevo to a mussel that […]
Read MoreThe Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood
Another Australian author, Charlotte Wood, does not shy away from ecological themes in her critically acclaimed text The Natural Way of Things. A novel that provokes anger, unease and repulsion, among other mixed emotions, this work of what some would call horror (although not of the supernatural kind) is based […]
Read MoreBirder Murder Mystery Series, Steve Burrows
Steve Burrows has travelled the world on birdwatching adventures. He’s turned his passion into an award-winning crime series. His latest, A Shimmer of Hummingbirds, takes police inspector Domenic Jejeune on a birding trip to the rainforest, where he hopes to uncover clues about his fugitive brother’s manslaughter case. –CBC Books […]
Read MoreWhat Remains, Angie Abdou
“I was going to write a typical ghost story but it will be more about the way we are haunted by our ancestors mistakes – environmental and genocidal,” said Abdou. “I’ve been collaborating with the Ktunaxa to get to use their name and their language. That’s been very interesting.” Abdou’s […]
Read MoreWide as the Wind, Edward Stanton
The book trailer has me hooked! The lyrical tale of a boy, a girl, their island, and how they saved it. -Goodreads Wide as the Wind is quest fiction to enthrall readers young and old. When Vaitéa is ravaged by war, hunger and destruction, it falls upon Miru, the 15-year-old […]
Read MorePiano Tide, Kathleen Dean Moore
“For a long time I’ve been writing books and speeches and harangues about stopping climate change and extinctions, and it’s all been very abstract, and I’ve been saying really abstract things like ‘stand strong against the corporate plunder of the planet,’” Moore said. “And it seemed to me I really […]
Read MoreAmerican War, Omar El Akkad
This award-winning journalist, until recently with The Globe and Mail, turns to fiction with a debut novel set in a not-too-distant America – ravaged by environmental calamities, dwindling resources and population displacement – that has fractured and descended into a second civil war. Considering the country’s current political and social […]
Read MoreJagannath, Karin Tidbeck
Enter the strange and wonderful world of Swedish sensation Karin Tidbeck with this feast of darkly fantastical stories. Whether through the falsified historical record of the uniquely weird Swedish creature known as the “Pyret” or the title story, “Jagannath,” about a biological ark in the far future, Tidbeck’s unique imagination […]
Read MoreThe Spawning Grounds, Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Sharp imagery and spare dialogue are put to good use in Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s ghost tale of a mysterious force intent on destroying a family in rural British Columbia. The Globe and Mail The long-awaited new novel by the two-time Giller-shortlisted author is full of the qualities Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s fans love: […]
Read MoreThe Risen, Ron Rash
During our conversation on the eve of Rash’s trip to France for an Eco-Literature convention, where the theme was “Enchantment,” he tells me that “One thing that’s important for me in my work is to remind people that there is a natural world. It’s very easy to think we are […]
Read MoreJesus and Magdalene, João Cerqueira
Thanks to João Cerqueira for information about his novel Jesus and Magdalene, published by Line by Lion Publications in July 2016. It is available for order at Amazon. The novel won the silver medal at the 2015 Latino Book Awards with the original title A segunda vinda de Cristo à […]
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